( 398 ) 



NOTES AND EVENTS OF THE MONTH. 



MUNICIPAL REJOICING. The good people of Scarborough (that 

 town, once so fashionably famous, now so capriciously neglected) 

 were quite beside themselves on receiving the news of the Corpora- 

 tion Bill (such as it was) having become right earnest law of the land ; 

 and nothing short of a bonfire could attest at once their burning 

 hatred of borough abuses, and their gratitude for the besom now 

 placed in their hands. " Several loads of furze," says the Chronicle, 

 " were speedily provided, to aid which five or six boats from the 

 harbour were carried, shoulder high, and thrown into the flames. 

 These latter (one of which admeasured upwards of twenty tons) were 

 given by the liberal party, and being ignited, had an imposing 

 effect." To burn the very craft in the harbour for joy bespeaks an 

 intensity of patriotism on the part of the Scarborough liberals, which 

 is equalled only by the liberality of the gift! Think of a whole 

 squadron of colliers leaving their native element, and navigating the 

 streets of Scarborough, borne " shoulders high,'' by triumphant 

 Tritons, even up to the very market cross ! why the transit of Burnham 

 wood was as nothing, in comparison. Did such a circumstance ever 

 come within the circle of Mother Shipton's prophecies? It is pro- 

 blematical. To ignite a fleet of boats by way of an lo triumph ! 

 why, let but the destruction of knavery in Britain be suffi- 

 ciently extensive, and the people, in their exultation, might make 

 firewood of the entire navy. It is by no means impossible, when the 

 city of London shall, by-and-by, be made participant in the advan- 

 tages of the New Bill, that the reformers, fired by enthusiasm, may 

 actually make an attempt on the Thames itself. Such an event has 

 long been threatened, for surely, next to burning boats for joy, must 

 come the conflagration of the waters whereon they float! Is Kent- 

 ish incendiarism so bad, after all ? May it not arise from a spirit of 

 patriotism, and joyousness of feeling? a warmth of heart, and burn- 

 ing zeal" a heated but mistaken imagination *? 



What a rare borough must Scarborough be ! What devotion to 

 freedom on the part of her new freemen ! it makes one kindle to 

 think of it. A lucky thing it was that the worshipful mayor and 

 aldermen were not near the harbour that day, else surely they 

 would have had a narrow escape from incineration themselves. 



SPORTING PARSONS. In the certificate-list of shooters, in the 

 County of Derby, there are thirty with the word " reverend" at- 

 tached to their names; in the Yorkshire list, there are ninety-three; 

 so say the newspapers. If any body would take the trouble to count 

 all the county-lists in Great Britain, a goodly aggregate of divine 

 Sportsmen would no doubt be shown. Strange propensity/. The use 

 of the gun, by the way, seems peculiarly to delight some of our 



